“Radiance, take me! You truly have given birth to a wonderful future lady, Lucianus,” an adult man wearing chainmail said, waving his big finger in front of the little toddler, who just returned a frown. “Your daughter is adorable.”
The chamber was dimly lit, with only faint streaks of light emerging from the radiant metal crosses adorning the walls and casting a cold golden hue over the two men.
“She is, Alexander,” Lucianus sighed, patting his friend’s shoulder. “And your Elysium was born on the same day. Isn’t that something?”
They shifted in front of a second baby, a male, who had been placed in the same wide cradle as Aurora.
“Hopefully, our little bundle of joy won’t be too much trouble,” Alexander replied, letting his son play with his large thumb for a second before leaving the infants behind to join their respective wives by the dining room table.
Lily suddenly felt Elysium’s chubby arm smash into hers and whine loudly. The little guy was much louder than her, which might have been an unfair comparison since she had barely ever wept since coming into this world. While it was true that whatever magic God Lucas had weaved before bringing her here had fully convinced her that it was all real, she still had trouble getting accustomed to this new life. In the past few days, she had broken down a couple of times, taking advantage of her status as a baby to justify her tantrums.
The only downside, if one might call it such, was that Lily’s new mother, Adriana, had interpreted her fits as signs that she was hungry and shoved the source of baby nutrition into her mouth to silence her.
Yikes, I can't just cry if that lady's going to shush me up like that every time, Lily was already more than well-fed. She twitched and, with the little control she had over her muscles, turned her neck to look at Elysium. Hey, little man, please, relax and stop kicking me.
Even though Lily was trying to psychically convey her instructions to Elysium, the other baby suddenly released a wicked fart that, if she had had any control over her throat, would have made her retch.
That little bundle of joy is packing some serious heat.
Trying to distract herself, Lily started listening to the conversation between adults.
“By the first dawn, your healing is amazing, Adriana,” Elysium’s mother, Ligea, spoke and sighed as a bright halo suddenly dimmed all around her. “I knew I still had some damage in me. The battlefield isn’t the same without you two—those slackers are always half-assing everything when the Claudii are not around. Sometimes, I wish I was a [Healer] just like you!”
Even when straining her neck, Lily couldn’t see the woman speaking. But if her husband was any indication, she was probably wearing chainmail as well. Lily’s parents, on the other hand, wore the same white tunic that apparently distinguished [Healers] from the others.
“Ligea, thank you, but I wish I had your strength, especially when Lucianus starts talking about his nonsense philosophy and those books he’s so obsessed with. It would help me whack some sense into his head. One of these days, the [Pope], His Holiness, is going to excommunicate him, I’m telling you,” Adriana giggled.
Lily heard her new father groan in response. She had noticed that her mother was at least six or seven years younger than him and a much more devout zealot than her husband.
“Don’t give me that attitude, Lucianus! You know it’s true!”
“It’s not true! I’m just curious! Since when has reading become illegal?”
“You should be careful with that, Lucianus,” Alexander spoke, “even though [Cardinal] Atticus loves you both, all the other Cardinals are on high alert for traitors. Everyone is jumpy, and the Pope has left to visit the Empire to rally support for the Crusade, but you know how politics is. I’m sure the Empire would just love to watch us and the Necromonarchy disintegrate against each other. With the Pope gone, for now, everyone must behave.”
“Those filthy [Necromancers],” Ligea added to her husband’s words to change the topic. “Every time we have to fight those Undead… the stench. Urgh.”
“We have had several deployments South,” Adriana sighed. “I know what you are talking about. Sometimes, not even our magic can contrast all that Death Magic, and that’s when it gets really ugly in the [Healer]’s tents.”
“Yeah, we have seen that,” Alexander swallowed. “We don’t usually stand guard alongside [Healers] as powerful as you, so we have seen much less, but even those with minor wounds can turn into the Undead if not cured properly. They have some pretty disgusting [Curses]—and those [Liches]? Don’t get me started.”
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Shadows, take them!” Adriana, Lily’s new mother, cursed. “We’ll bring the God of Light upon them soon. Those heretics will all burn in the sacred light of our Lord.”
Lucianus, however, had yet to speak as the other three kept discussing the Church’s affairs.
Hearing them talk so fervently about religion made Lily feel queasy.
At least they want me to be a [Healer], she thought. Not that I’d have a choice with them being two of the most important figures in this Theocracy. Plus, they are squaring off with creepy and smelly [Necromancers] or something and not setting poor books on fire, Lily reasoned, still queasy about her state of affairs.
“Have you already tested Aurora?” Ligea asked with curiosity in her tone.
“Yes, she obviously has a natural Light Affinity, but the [Priest] who tested her also said that her Mana is already weirdly more developed than it should have any right to be—extremely strong for her age. They think the God of Light might have overseen her arrival Himself!”
“Lucianus, you old fox!” Alexander laughed uproariously. “You truly outdid yourself this time! Well, with our children born on the same day, we should really marry them off to each other! AHAH!”
A deathly still silence followed that statement.
“He’s drunk and joking; forgive him,” Ligea said with a trembling tone. “Alexander, please.”
“Whatever,” Lucianus mumbled, not paying much attention to his friend.
“It’s fine,” Adriana said warily, “I’m sure Alexander wasn’t implying that we should break the caste rules, as that would be subject to Capital punishment.”
“Er, yes, yes. Sorry,” Alexander sputtered, “I was just joking.”
“It’s fine,” Adriana said snappily. “Aurora already shows signs of being a prodigy. We couldn’t have asked for more.”
“If our daughter turns out to be a prodigy,” Lucianus deadpanned, “she will be at the forefront of the Sacred War.”
“Yes, Lucianus,” Adriana said sternly, “she will be.”
“Well, then, let’s hope the war is over by the time she turns thirteen,” Lucianus replied, not a hint of a smile on his face.
…
“Come on, Aurora,” Lily’s new mother whispered under her breath. “Come on, touch the Mana.”
A week had passed since that odd dinner with Elysium’s parents, and Lily had been bored to death by the ‘baby routine.’ It mostly consisted of her mother feeding her and her not being able to control her bowel movements. The only other exciting thing had been her sessions of Mana exposure.
Several square crosses, artifacts of the Church that gathered ambient Light-Magic-Attuned Mana, adorned the walls of her room, and her cradle was placed right in the middle. The cradle in which Lily rested bore an intricate carving – a single serpent entwined around a chalice.
They were expecting Lily to touch the Mana, which she had no idea what it meant.
She had indeed tried touching the Mana with her chubby hands, but it had come off as a meager waving to the ceiling. Her mother, not discouraged one bit, brought her to the room for several hours a day, hoping her daughter would do… something.
Her father, Lucianus, was mostly gone all day and only came to check on her in the evening with some dark circles under his eyes. He mostly spent his time with her just sighing away and shaking his head, clearly bothered about something.
Maybe he had wanted a son, Lily rationalized. Considering how medieval this society was, it wouldn’t have been a surprise.
...
Adriana observed her daughter writhe in the cradle for several hours in boredom. While she was surprised by how quiet the future [Healer] was, she was disappointed to see there was no sign a God had awarded her any great skills so far.
Perhaps the midwife was wrong? The woman wondered.
With a sigh, she went to pick her up.
It was absolutely unreasonable for Adriana to expect a baby so young to already be able to feel the Mana, but that wasn’t enough to put her passion to rest. She had even started explaining to the baby what to do out of exasperation.
“Aurora, darling,” Adriana spoke in a frustrated voice, “you need to feel the Mana before you touch it. I wish you could understand me. It should be so easy for you—just close your eyes and extend your senses.”
Oh? Lily thought and followed the advice, closing her eyelids as her mother gently rocked her up and down.
As soon as Lily tried extending her senses into the darkness, she immediately felt a fuzzy sensation that something was in the air.
[*Ding!* Skill - Mana Sense acquired]
[*Ding!* Skill - Mana Sense level 1!]
Adriana’s eyes suddenly widened as the artifact that let her check on her daughter’s skills, as long as she was under one year of age, that she wore around her neck flickered.
“Oh, my!” Adriana shouted in shock.
…
“By His Shimmering Grace... Your daughter has [Mana Sense],” [Cardinal] Atticus spoke in bewilderment, examining the baby in the cradle with Adriana’s artifact. “The God must have blessed her personally. This is… unprecedented, Lucianus.”
Adriana clutched her husband’s arm tightly, beyond excited. Lucianus, on the other hand, looked at his daughter with a troubled expression.
“Atticus, how is this possible? She’s barely one week old. Could it be a fluke?”
“I would have thought the same,” the [Cardinal] said, rising from his hunched form over the baby. “But even though your daughter shouldn’t be even able to comprehend your words, she has leveled the skill twice already.”
…
Leveling [Mana Sense] was fun for Lily. Most of the time, her parents simply left her in the room with the metal crosses that naturally gathered and converted ambient Mana to Light-Attuned Mana. She had been practicing relentlessly for another week, leaving her parents flabbergasted at the speed she was making progress.
[*Ding!* Skill - Mana Sense level 8!]
Lily looked at the notification with a wide smile. Practicing so much had taken off the edge of having been transported into a whole other world. Not even the ominous talk about the war could distract her from Mana practice.
By now, she could see suffused clouds of Light-Attuned Mana floating around her. It was a mesmerizing spectacle that did not bore her in the least, even after hours of staring at them.
Then... I can really become a magical doctor. It took crossing worlds, but this... this is all real. I finally get to do what I always wanted.
At that moment, Lily’s mother entered the room, announcing with a solemn voice.
“Aurora, your future Godmother is here.”